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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23832169">Arktikos</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothghost/pseuds/mothghost'>mothghost</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Arktikos, Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Elemental Magic, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Fantasy, Found Family, M/M, Multi, Sharing a Bed, Swordplay, Worldbuilding, runaways - Freeform, so much found family, sword play, well not everyone but a lot of them</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:33:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23832169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mothghost/pseuds/mothghost</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cast out from his home at eighteen, Dei and his small band of friends set out to travel the world, conquer the delights of pubs, and leave their mark— but in the world of the Blooded, nothing is ever that simple. The four elemental clans are constantly at each other's throats, and Dei very quickly finds himself in the center of their disagreements. Torn between the home that doesn't want him, and the opposing faction that has welcomed him in, Dei chooses his own path— and, well, if that path involves boys, weaponry, and political strife, who's to blame him?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dei/Lea(Arktikos), Dei/Lucian(Arktikos), Dei/Sinnashi(Arktikos)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Arktikos</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The air was as cold as anything ever was, sharp as a dagger in his lungs. Dei Arktikos stood on guard duty, hand on the sword at his waist, looking out over the icy plain that spread before him. Little ever happened in the city of Koros, but there was something delightful about sitting there, breathing in the chilly air regardless. He was dressed in the thin garb of the guard, a light, short sleeved shirt and pair of long pants, a pair of leather arm braces. However, unlike many of the other guards there, Dei also wore a thick leather jacket, and a cloak over top of it.<br/>"Going to just stand there forever?" He turned to look at the source of the voice, a young man of maybe fifteen or sixteen. His name was Jayme, and he stood leaning against the icy wall, bare arms crossed in front of him, looking as unbothered by the cold as any blooded kyro ever did. Dei shrunk further into his coat. <br/>"Maybe," he said, his breath puffing out into the air, clouding and hovering for a moment before disappearing. <br/>"Your shift ended thirty minutes ago." Jayme's breath wasn't visible in the air. Jayme's breath faded as quickly as it showed. He was just as cold as everything around him, after all. "You should come down to the ring with me." <br/>It was a tempting offer, but Dei was waiting for someone else. "Later," he said. "I want to catch up with Koroi Gale first." <br/>"Hm." Jayme's gaze swept down over him, from Dei's gloved hands to the thick fur lining of his jacket. "You know, no one would blame you if you didn't take up guard duty. Especially considering that you have to be swaddled like that." <br/>"I'm not <em>swaddled</em>." It was barely a protest. He knew what he looked like. "Besides, they say—" <br/>"The ring, Dei. In twenty minutes, or you're a loser." Jayme pushed off from the wall, slugging him in the shoulder as he walked past. Dei flinched, pain flashing through his arm along with the bitter chill of frost, and turned to look at Jayme as he walked off. He sighed, moving to settle back against the wall. <br/>"You shouldn't let them bother you. It'll happen eventually," a voice said, before he could. "Always does, 'specially to someone with your blood." <br/>"Jayme's my friend," he said, not turning to look at the man now standing next to him. He knew what he would find if he did— dark eyes, darker hair. Lucian Graywheel, the one Consumer in the whole of Koros. In the whole of the country, if they were being truthful. <br/>"Maybe you should reconsider that." <br/>"What're you doing here, Lucian?" His voice came out harsher than he'd intended, really, but it wasn't his fault. No one wanted to be around the Consumer. It was just— bad luck. <br/>"I like looking out at the city." He leaned back against the wall next to Dei, close enough that he could smell the strange, bitter scent of coffee beans on Lucian's coat. "And there's typically no one stationed here." <br/>Dei knew that. It was part of the reason he'd chosen the location. The city had two major types of guard posts— those necessary, and those there out of an added sense of security. This was one of the latter. Overlooking the vast, open slate of the desolate winter plains, where anything could be seen coming from miles away, where countless other posts had better views. They never drafted him for anything that was strictly necessary, for anything that was more than 'stand here and look pretty.' That was what he got for not being blooded yet. "Why would that entice <em>you</em>?" <br/>"Being in the public eye is a pain, sometimes." The Consumer's eyes flickered over him. "I'd think you'd know that better than anyone." <br/>He did, really. "I guess." <br/>"Hm." Lucian's glaze slid off of him, and back to the plains. "Why're you waiting for the Koroi, then?" <br/>He scuffed a shoe against the ground. He didn't want to tell Lucian any more than he'd wanted to tell Jayme. "What do you care?" <br/>"Just trying to strike up conversation, geez." The Consumer shoved his hands in his pocket, and Dei finally chanced a glance at him. He was <em>young</em>, Dei saw with a start— and not just in the way of the blooded kyro. He legitimately hadn't reached the point in which he'd stop ageing yet. If Dei had to guess, he was probably a few years older than him. Nineteen or twenty to his sixteen. <br/>He didn't wear it well. Not in the slump of his shoulders, not in the way his gaze lay flat on the ground. It couldn't be easy, Dei figured. Everyone avoided the guy like he had the plague. Dei sighed, and answered. "It doesn't matter. She's probably not coming this way. If she was, she would've been here by now." <br/>"You don't have to try and make excuses for why you're suddenly planning your exit. I get it." <br/>"I— that wasn't what I was doing." <br/>"Oh, really?" <br/>So maybe it had been a little bit of what he was doing. Maybe he'd been planning to wait around the entire day for the Koroi to show up if he had to, before Lucian had appeared. He looked away. "Really. I mean— hey, why don't you come down to the Rings with me?" <br/>Lucian made a small, surprised noise. "I don't fight." <br/>"You could watch. Or practice. I don't know what Jayme is planning to do, really." He felt kind of foolish in offering. Why did he think that Lucian, a man with one of the rarest powers in the world, a man who was, despite his apparent age, slowly working his way up the social ladder, would want to come? <br/>Well, Dei supposed, at least it made him look like he hadn't just been trying to avoid him. And this way, Lucian might, maybe just a touch, feel included. Maybe that would be good for him. <br/>"Sure," Lucian said, and Dei turned to look at him, blinking, mouth dropping open slightly in surprise. "Unless you didn't really mean it, of course." The grin the other man tossed him made Dei's stomach drop, and he flushed, looking away. Great, he'd been caught. Only thing to do at this point was lie, he supposed. "Of course I did. Come on." He pushed himself off of the wall, dragging his jacket closer to him. Lucian quirked an eyebrow, and then, after a moment, followed him. </p>
<p><br/>The Ring was, as it always was, busy as hell. There was a line a mile long just to sign in, and another one even longer to register for tournaments. Dei settled in, ready to spend his time waiting, when the man in front of him cleared his throat and said, "Er, you can go ahead of me." <br/>He wasn't too surprised. It happened often enough, given that he was an Arktikos. He smiled, gave his thanks, and stepped forwards. <br/>And then the man in front of him offered, and the one in front of <em>him</em>, and the one in front of <em>him</em>— and he realized that all of them were casting wary looks towards Lucian, who was standing next to him, slowly ascending the line right alongside him. <br/>"Does this happen to you everywhere you go?" He asked, even as they reached the front of the line and he reached for the pen, jotting both of their names into the registry. <br/>"Nearly. Most people don't want me next to them for long." His eyes on Dei's were piercing, making his skin crawl. He swallowed and looked away. "Unlike you, apparently." <br/>"I'm just trying to be nice. You don't have to be so rude about it." <br/>Lucian arched an eyebrow. "Yes, I suppose that <em>would</em> be those Arktikos manners. Your father is similar." <br/>Dei said nothing in response to that, choosing instead to brush through the rooms, into the number he'd seen marked next to Jayme's name. The first thing that became apparent was the change in temperature— it was not warm, inside, exactly, as most Kyro couldn't stand the heat, but neither was it cold. It was just the right temperature that Dei could shuck his coat and only be slightly chilled. It was a concession he wished his friends didn't have to make. <br/>He freed himself from the heavy garment, tossing it into the corner and rolling his shoulders, glad to have regained his mobility at last. And his ability to look like everyone else in the room. <br/>"Dei!" Jayme said, turning and making as if to come over. He made it four steps before he stopped, skidding to a halt and staring at the man at Dei's side. "Is that—"<br/>"Lucian Graywheel," he said, and Dei watched, somewhat horrified, as he offered Jayme his hand, a small smile curving at the edges of his lips. <br/>Jayme visibly recoiled. <br/>And then, to all of their surprise, Lucian let out a sharp laugh and dropped his hand. "Not one for touching Consumers? Can't say I blame you." <br/>Jayme's eyes flitted from Lucian to Dei and back again. "What're you um— what're you doing here, Koni Graywheel?" <br/>Ah, that was right. Lucian had a title— he was a political apprentice, after all. Dei had practically forgotten. <br/>"Your friend invited me," Lucian leaned back against the wall as he spoke, crossing his arm. "He said I could watch you spar. Truthfully, I think he was just trying not to be rude." <br/>Dei shifted from foot to foot. "You <em>could</em> join us, if you wanted." He couldn't figure out why he kept being nice to Lucian. "Do you know how to spar? I could teach you." And there he went again. <br/>Lucian raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't, actually."<br/>"Where were you raised that didn't teach you basic combat?" To all of their surprise, it was Lea who spoke up. She'd been silent long enough that Dei hadn't noticed her until that moment, from where she stood, halfway across the room. She was leaning on one of the training dummies, looking far less concerned by their situation than Dei thought she really aught to. <br/>"Small island off the coast. Zori, if you've heard of it." <br/>"The peacemaker tribe?" <br/>Lucian leveled her a flat look. "Yes. Is that so surprising?" <br/>"Depends. What'd they do when they figured out that they had a Consumer in their midst? Package you up and ship you off?" <br/>Dei didn't want to tell her to be nice. He also didn't want Lucian to get angry. Torn, his gaze flitted between the two. <br/>And then, to his surprise, Lucian smiled. "Yes," he said. "They did. They sent me here, to Koros, where the largest library in the world is, where I would have the resources to figure out who and what I was. Where I could figure out what it meant to be able to take away someone's power with the flick of my wrist. They figured that if no one could teach me, I could learn how to use it myself." There was a beat as Lea just stared at him, and then he said, quietly, "And they were sure as hell a lot less judgmental than you folk." <br/>"Can't we all just get along?" Dei said, a little hopelessly. The longer they stood there, the more he was beginning to regret bringing Lucian. <br/>"I'm with Dei on this one," Jayme was there, then, at his side, slinging an arm around his shoulders. He winced at the icy brush of his skin, but didn't pull away, choosing instead to bump back against the boy and laugh. "Come on, Lucian, we'll teach you how to spar." <br/>"Not even going to make me swear not to touch you?" Lucian asked, raising an eyebrow. He let them lead him farther into the training room, however. <br/>"You don't have to even touch us, do you?" Dei's gaze darted to him as he asked the question. He was more curious than he wanted to admit. "You could just do it with— water or something." <br/>"That's right." Lucian's eyes were sharp on him as Dei moved to pick up a set of wooden swords, turning to offer him one.<br/>Lucian took it, testing the balance in his hand. He'd been lying then. To know to do that, he must have had <em>some</em> training, then, Dei thought. Probably with one of the Koroi, if he was planning on becoming a government official.<br/>"Do you know how to parry?" Dei asked, and raised his blade. Lucian mirrored his movements, and then they were off, dancing across the room. It was immediately apparent as Dei deflected blow after blow, refusing to even go on the offensive, that he was the better fighter.<br/>Lucian jabbed at him, and he let it bounce off of the flat of his own blade. The man tried to feint; Dei saw it from a mile away. He went for Dei's purposefully unprotected side, and Dei caught him before he could even get close.<br/>"It's clear you have me beat," Lucian said, after a few back and forth rounds of this, even as Dei raised his wooden weapon against yet another strike.<br/>"Part of it's in the fun, anyways." And it was. It was in the gentle back and forth of his footsteps, in the swishing of weapons through the air, in the soft learning of your opponent's style— even an opponent as poorly trained as Lucian.<br/>"You're holding back, aren't you?" Lucian asked, as they danced in another circle, and Dei couldn't help his grin.<br/>"A lot."<br/>"Maybe you could give me some advice some time, then. I need to pass a combat trial to become a Koroi, and Allimen knows I'm not going to be able to do it like this."<br/>He knew he shouldn't agree to giving the Consumer lessons. He <em>really</em> knew he shouldn't. What would his father say? What would his friends say? They were watching him now, eyes harsh on his back. But Lucian didn't seem dangerous. He seemed kind of... lonely. In need of a friend. <br/>"You're leaving your side vulnerable," he said, and in a flash his blade was there. His warning had given Lucian enough time to react, however, and he countered the blow successfully. Dei smiled. <br/>And then he disarmed the Consumer in one swift movement, sword twisting around Lucian's and throwing it to the ground.<br/>The other man stumbled back, uttering a low noise as he found Dei's training sword suddenly leveled at his chest, holding up his hands. "I surrender, I surrender." There was almost something laughing in his tone. <br/>Dei dropped the blade, letting the tip clatter against the floor. "You're not bad," he said, even though Lucian was. <br/>Lucian shoved his sweat-damp hair out of his face. "You're phenomenal." He was slightly out of breath, chest heaving, a large smile on his face. <br/>Dei swallowed, chest suddenly tight, and glanced away. This was a Consumer. This was <em>dangerous</em>. <br/>"Where's Silv?" He asked, gaze falling to Jayme, looking for somewhere, anywhere else to look."In the market with Rin. She didn't want to come down. Why? Thinking of skipping out on practice to go hang out with your sister?" It was clear that Jayme was trying to cover for his momentary lapse in judgement. <br/><em>Yes</em>, Dei thought, but he didn't say it aloud. "We could all go." <br/>"Including him? Surely a Koni doesn't want to come with us, Dei. He's got more important places to be, doesn't he?" Jayme's eyes were fixed on Lucian, boring into him. "I mean, what kind of political candidate wants to hang out with a bunch of teenagers?" <br/>"You do realize that I'm hardly more of a teenager than you," Lucian said, but he shrugged, moving to leave. <br/>"Wait—" Dei said, reaching out to grab him. He didn't realize what he'd done until he was holding onto the man's arm, bare skin against bare skin. His skin against a <em>Consumer's</em> skin. He swallowed, jerking his hand back. <br/>Lucian stared at him for a moment, something like disgust in his eyes, and then he visibly pulled himself together, expression flattening out, replaced with cool disinterest. "Well then, I'm sorry to ruin your evening. I'd be more than happy to go." He dipped his head.<br/>"Lucian—" Dei said. He felt bad. He did. He hadn't meant to flinch like that, it was just, everyone knew you didn't touch Consumers. <em>Everyone</em>.<br/>"Be careful, Dei," Lucian said, even as he pulled open the door. "You are about to change." <br/>Dei had the time to think that it was a strange sentiment, an old kyro parting adage, and then the door slammed shut.</p>
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